National Waste Strategy - Structure

Structure

The Environment Act 1995 added a requirement to the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requiring the Secretary of State, as of 2008 the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to prepare a National Waste Strategy for England and Wales and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, a Strategy for Scotland. The Strategy must include:

• A statement of policies for attaining the statutory objectives of the 1990 Act;
• Provisions relating to:
  • The type, quantity and origin of waste to be recovered or disposed of;
  • General technical requirements; and
  • Any special requirements for particular wastes.

The statutory objectives are:

• Ensuring that waste is recovered or disposed of without endangering human health and without using processes or methods which could harm the environment and, in particular, without:
  • Risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals;
  • Causing nuisance through noise or odours; or
  • Adversely affecting the countryside or places of special interest.
• Establishing an integrated and adequate network of waste disposal installations, taking account of the best available technology not involving excessive costs
• Ensuring that the network referred to above enables:
  • The European Community as a whole to become self-sufficient in waste disposal, and the Member States individually to move towards that aim, taking into account geographical circumstances or the need for specialised installations for certain types of waste; and
  • Waste to be disposed of in one of the nearest appropriate installations, by means of the most appropriate methods and technologies in order to ensure a high level of protection for the environment and public health.
• Encouraging the prevention or reduction of waste production and its harmfulness, in particular by:
  • The development of clean technologies more sparing in their use of natural resources;
  • The technical development and marketing of products designed so as to make no contribution or to make the smallest possible contribution, by the nature of their manufacture, use or final disposal, to increasing the amount or harmfulness of waste and pollution hazards; and
  • The development of appropriate techniques for the final disposal of dangerous substances contained in waste destined for recovery.